Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for inspecting an all-solid battery.
Description of the Related Art
A lithium-ion secondary battery has a higher energy density and is operable at a high voltage compared to conventional secondary batteries. Therefore, it is used for information devices such as a cellular phone, as a secondary battery which can be easily reduced in size and weight, and nowadays there is also an increasing demand for the lithium-ion secondary battery to be used as a power source for large-scale apparatuses such as electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles.
A lithium-ion secondary battery includes a cathode layer, an anode layer, and an electrolyte layer disposed between them. An electrolyte to be employed in the electrolyte layer is, for example, a non-aqueous liquid or a solid. When the liquid is used as the electrolyte (hereinafter, the liquid being referred to as “electrolytic solution”), it easily permeates into the cathode layer and the anode layer. Therefore, an interface can be formed easily between the electrolytic solution and active materials contained in the cathode layer and the anode layer, and the battery performance can be easily improved. However, since commonly used electrolytic solutions are flammable, it is necessary to mount a system to ensure safety. On the other hand, if a nonflammable solid electrolyte (hereinafter referred to as “solid electrolyte”) is used, the above system can be simplified. As such, a lithium-ion secondary battery provided with a layer containing a solid electrolyte has been suggested (hereinafter, the layer being referred to as “solid electrolyte layer” and the battery being referred to as “all-solid battery”).
As a technique related to the lithium-ion secondary battery as described above, for example Patent Document 1 discloses a technique to charge a secondary battery in which an abnormality is detected in voltage and/or current in charging, with pulse waves and/or a low charging voltage.